Don’t Expect Borderlands Movie To Be Like The Game According To Director
Fans don’t like to admit this, but Hollywood writers and directors often face a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation when it comes to adapting mediums such as video games into films. If a movie ends up following the game’s plot exactly, then it will make some fans happy, but others will be disappointed that the film never found any interesting ways to surprise them. For better or for worse, Borderlands fans need to gear up for some surprises: according to IGN, Borderlands film director Eli Roth said, “I didn’t just want to film the game” but that “it’s loaded with Easter eggs for the fans.”
Eli Roth Compares Borderlands To Marvel Movies
If you’re a Borderlands player already worried about how faithful the film will be to the source material, here’s some good news: Roth explicitly compared his film’s adherence to the source material to the MCU’s adherence to the comic book source material. As he put it, “the comics are their own canon and the movies are their own canon, and you don’t have to be married to it.”
That’s certainly evident in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where major comic storylines such as Civil War and Secret Invasion have been adapted into films and series inspired by the comics but which are filled with plenty of surprising twists and turns.
The Story Comes First
While we’d understand if longtime Borderlands players are still nervous about Roth deviating too far from the source material, the truth is that the veteran director simply wants to deliver something that is an awesome film first and a great adaptation second. As he puts it, “We wanted to tell a great story on its own,” and being “too slavish” in adapting the games’ stories would have gotten in the way of that.
Creative Liberties Helped Other Projects
Recent history proves the Hostel director might be correct on that: both the TV series The Last of Us and the film The Super Mario Bros. Movie proved to be massive successes with both fans and general audiences, and neither were afraid to stray from the source material to tell a good story. Just imagine how boring Mario’s latest cinematic adventure would have been if it focused only on the scant plot of a game like Super Mario World and you can see why Eli Roth wanted to take some creative risks with Borderlands.
The Cast Of Borderlands
Speaking of Mario, the Borderlands movie has one interesting connection with the plucky plumber’s latest film: the movie will feature Bowser voice actor Jack Black as Claptrap, and we can only hope his dialogue gives us something even half as entertaining as that amazing “Peaches” song.
The film also features some other major league talent, including Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Patricia Tannis and Cate Blanchett as Lilith. They are joined by other major names such as Kevin Hart and Gina Gershon, and that means this film should have a major draw even for audience members who have never picked up a controller.
Borderlands Is Set To Release August 2024
At this point, Borderlands fans have been waiting a good, long time to see their favorite series adapted to the big screen. The movie was originally announced way back in 2015, and Roth has been attached as its director since 2020. Now, the Lionsgate film has an official release date of August 9, 2024, but whether it will be any good or not is as unpredictable as the random loot players have spent years collecting across the planet of Pandora.
